The CCGS Frederick G. Creed has been conducting survey work off the Eastern coast of Nova Scotia for the past few weeks. the vessel sails from BIO in the morning, and returns in the evening, and appears to operate on a 7am to 7pm schedule. the ship works for the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

Built in 1988 by SWATH Ocean Systems in San Diego, the ship utilizes a Swath Design.SWATH stands for Small Waterplane Twin Hull. Unlike a catamaran, which features two displacement pontoons in the water, the SWATH design is like resting the ship on top of two submerged submarines. the bulk of the hull mass is submerged below the surface, and only a narrow volume is taken up at the water surface. By placing the majority of the ships displacement under the surface, it remains unaffected by wave action.

As a result the ship is incredibly stable in rough sea states. SWATH technology was developed by a Nova Scotian, Frederick G. Creed in the 1930’s, and awarded a British patent in 1946. The CCGS Frederick G. Creed is the Coastguards only SWATH design in the fleet, and appropriately bears the name of the inventor of the technology.

As far as my records go, the ship was last in Halifax in 2009.